23andme Genetic Testing- Dr Paul Recommends and Explains It’s Use

Knowledge is power. For centuries, the church leaders were the only ones allowed to read the bible, and for Christians, literacy and the printing of the bible, put this knowledge or information right in their hands. Until just a couple decades ago, research and cutting edge medical information was largely unavailable to most of us unless we had time to sit in libraries, manually going over journal articles, or requesting them by mail. The Internet and the powerful search engines have now put almost all of the worlds literature and medical studies at our fingertips in a second.

Self knowledge is power. Medical research information is available on over 50,000 SNP’s (Single Nucleotide Polymorphism’s). We all have hundreds if not thousands of these genetic glitches or transformations, which represent our genetics over generations interacting with the environment. This is how the “sins of the father” last generations. In reality it has much more to do with all the toxins we put in our environment and our SNP response to them. It is not possible for any doctor (except perhaps a researcher who specializes in SNP research) to know more than you can know about your own unique genetic risk factors and genetic strengths. It is time for you to get the whole picture. Your genetics are fairly stable over your lifetime, so you only need to do this test once. It is our understanding of the meaning of the data that will grow over time.

How would you like to be able to plug in any medication your doctor is recommending and find out if it is a good or bad choice for you based on your genetics? You will be able to do this for your lifetime, or for that of your child. You will be able to pull up, in an instant, articles related to your specific genetics and that medication etc., and take these to your physician.

We know that certain genetic SNP’s put us at greater risk for certain things. I carry one of the MTHFR SNP’s. This undoubtedly puts me at greater risk for numerous conditions and likely explains why my children were challenged in certain areas of health. So why would you want to know? Knowing allows you to make life-style changes; take key nutrients that help you bypass the defect, and can guide future medical care.

For $99 + shipping, and then $5 for analysis from Promethease, you will have your entire genetics and what it means. This is done from a vial of spit! I propose that all prospective parents, current parents and grandparents, children, and grandchildren in my practice get this done. Store your information (digital) in duplicate.

Due to the FDA ruling, 23andme cannot give you your medical data analysis. However, you can still get access to it as follows:

Once downloaded you want to save this as this is your raw data that will guide you for your lifetime and that of generations to come in your family.

You can get access to an analysis of what the raw data means by going to:

https//:promethease.com/ondemand where, for $5, you can get your data analysis in less than half an hour.

Promethease will not store your data for more than the few seconds it takes for them to do the analysis. After that analysis is done, your raw data is gone (deleted from their system and not retrievable). The analysis of your data will be kept for 45 days after which it too is gone forever. This is their commitment to your genetic privacy. Therefore, keep a copy of both your raw data and their analysis in a safe place and I might suggest a copy on an external drive in a fireproof safe or safety deposit box.

Promethease uses data gathered and collected from the research of the world using www.snpedia.com which at the time of this writing contains all 56126 snps in SNPedia. Promethease can rerun your raw data as often as you wish to get the latest information, as this area of research and knowledge is exploding on a daily basis.

For a fascinating overview of how to use Promethease I recommend their introductory video:

The time is now when we can totally empower ourselves with knowledge and personalize our own health journey and treatments. Knowing your risk factors can motivate you to make some important life changes and improve both your health and that of your children.

One word of caution: For those prone to worrying or anxiety, it may be best you share this data with a physician or health care provider knowledgeable in how to interpret and use this information. It may not be helpful to you to know all the possible things for which you are at increased risk. Basically we are all at risk for thousands of things and have genetic strengths for tens of thousands of things.